Vending machines have become commonplace in today's societies. Depending upon the nature of the product(s) being dispensed or stored therein, such machines often require refrigeration systems to cool or provide freezing temperatures to all or a portion of the interior volume of the machine. Such refrigeration may be achieved by a number of techniques such as by common refrigeration units of the nature generally found in home refrigerators, by heat pumps, or the like. Such refrigeration units are typically mounted in the lower portion of the vending machine. Further since it is often difficult to move a vending machine for servicing, most vending machine refrigeration units are accessed through the front door or panel(s) of the machine.
It is important to be able to easily and rapidly service and maintain vending machines. Lost down time on the machine and excessive service/repair time rapidly deplete the revenues gained by the machine. Further, with regard to refrigeration units, it is important to rapidly complete the servicing in order to prevent possible spoilage or damage to the inventory/contents of the machine that may occur over extended servicing intervals. In the event of refrigeration unit failure, the most expedient service technique has typically been to remove and replace the entire refrigeration unit with an operable unit and to take the failed unit to a refrigeration expert for repair. However, removal and replacement of the refrigeration units in prior art vending machine configurations have been difficult and time-consuming operations.
The refrigeration units on most vending machines blow cooled air through an outlet duct of the refrigeration unit into a duct system or inlet of the vending machine cavity. In order to maximize cooling efficiency, it is important to create and maintain a tight seal between the refrigeration unit's outlet duct and the inlet duct system of the vending machine's cooled cavity. Prior art techniques have required cumbersome means for achieving the seal, making removal and replacement of a failed refrigeration unit a labor intensive and time consuming endeavor. For example, some systems require their refrigeration units to be laterally and longitudinally aligned with and positioned below the vending machine duct/inlet and then vertically lifted into and held in sealing engagement with the vending machine duct/inlet while appropriate fastening means, such as bolts we used to secure the unit in place. Besides the complexity of such operation, which can easily lead to damage of the seal members, the heavy weight of the refrigeration unit makes this operation all the more difficult. Others, require the entire vending machine to be pulled out from its normal operative position for removal of side panels to adequately access and service the refrigeration unit. In the case of a fully loaded beverage dispensing machine, this may also require unloading of the machine contents before it can be safely moved. If the vending machine is one that houses frozen or semi-frozen items, the removed items may require independent refrigeration or be susceptible to spoilage or damage. Still other vending machines use ductless refrigeration units that house the evaporator portion of the refrigeration unit directly inside the cooled chamber. In such configurations the evaporator unit is susceptible to direct damage from falling items in the cooled chamber. Further, such configurations require opening of the entire cooled chamber for repair or replacement of the evaporator unit, which can be a very difficult task.
The present invention addresses the prior art problems associated with the servicing of vending machine refrigeration units, by providing a vending machine refrigeration unit design that enables rapid, efficient and easy removal and replacement of the refrigeration unit in a manner that provides for self-alignment of air ducts and seals, minimizes seal damage, and provides for uniform and consistent correct placement of the refrigeration assembly relative to the vending machine, that provides for tight seals.